Big shake up of the construction and building industry unnecessary: EY's Selina Short

EXPERT OBSERVER

A big shake up of the construction and building industry is unnecessary.

From a risk perspective it is relatively straightforward to unpack what has gone wrong but the impacts are alarming and go to the heart of impacting the safety and wellbeing of community members.

Proactive adoption by industry of the 24 review recommendations set out in the Shergold Weir report would go a long way to mitigating the risks coming to light in the building industry.

The challenge with an industry overhaul is that it would add to the negative sentiment that is already causing challenges in the property market and has the potential to create a perception the problem is bigger than it is. We could see quality developers caught up in the same net as less reputable operators.

It’s clear that people are delaying property purchasing decisions. This adds another layer to the softening property market, particularly in relation to apartment presales. Developers need to address buyer’s fears about these issues head on and move from being reactive to proactive.

They need to be on the front foot regarding risk mitigation and related assurances and offer clear assurance around consumer protections. This is about doing the right thing by consumers.

It’s impossible to say that we won’t see more of these types of failures. The very nature of the number of incidents suggests that there is something wrong and this could partly be attributed to pressure on available resources.

What we’re seeing manifest here is the downside of a property boom – corners get cut, shortages of specialist expertise, and required checks and assurances (certification, etc.) are also circumvented.

Selina Short is the managing director at Ernst & Young.